Francis Lenn Taylor

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For other persons named Francis Taylor, see Francis Taylor (disambiguation).

Francis Taylor (December 28, 1897 – November 20, 1968) was an American art dealer and father of the actress Elizabeth Taylor.

He was born Francis Lenn Taylor in Springfield, Illinois, the son of Francis Marion Taylor (1840-1946) and Elizabeth Mary Rosemond (1869-1937). The family later moved to Arkansas City, Kansas.

Francis began dealing in art in New York for a wealthy in-law, Howard Young.

Taylor married stage actress Sara Sothern (whose real name was Sara Viola Warmbrodt and was also from Arkansas City) in 1926 in New York. They were the parents of Howard Taylor (born 1929) and Elizabeth Taylor (who became a famous movie actress).

Within a few years of his marriage, Taylor was transferred to Young's art gallery in London, England, where he and Sara lived several years, and where their children were born. At the outbreak of Britains involvement in World War II, they returned to the United States.

Taylor later ran an art gallery in Beverly Hills, California.

He died at age 70 in Los Angeles. He is interred beside his wife in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Westwood, California.